RTA on notice as Oxford St votes

Sue Ritchie’s campaign to change the culture of the RTA is building momentum after all respondents to her campaign letter agreed that the RTA needs a review.

On March 10 City News reported that Ms Ritchie, co-owner of the Beauchamp Hotel on Oxford Street, had given all candidates for the seat of Sydney until March 11 to respond to a letter asking what they would do about the RTA should they win power on March 26.

All candidates from the major parties replied along with Independent Clover Moore MP and Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann.

The letter outlined the RTA’s lack of cooperation on issues raised by City of Sydney in the Paddington and Centennial Park Pedestrian, Cycling and Traffic Calming (PCTC) Plan and its lack of consultation with local businesses who said they were being “stonewalled”.

All respondents said they fully endorsed the six recommendations made by City of Sydney in the PCTC with the exception of Labor’s Sacha Blumen who endorsed the introductionof a 40 km/h zone but  said that he “would need to receive technical advice on their impacts on safety” before coming to a decision on the other five recommendations.

Ms Ritchie is also the convener of the Three Saints Square project, a group of some 300 local business and community members who live and work in and around Oxford Street. Ms Ritchie told the candidates that their responses would be sent to her constituents and other members of a “coalition of community groups” within the area and the responses given may affect how people vote within the community.

“At the moment the community group leaders have the responses,” she said. “Next week we will be putting it out to our ‘constituents’.”

While Ms Ritchie was disappointed by a lack of response from party leaders she understands that all candidates consulted closely with their leaders before responding.

In a display of foucauldian ethics, Ms Ritchie refused to be drawn on who she would be voting for, preferring to leave the facts to speak for themselves.

“Everybody has to come to their own conclusion and people need to read into the responses for what they are,” she said. “Everybody will be empowered by the information so that they can be educated voters and can make a judgement on who is going to be able to do something that is going to have a direct impact on their day to day lives.”

Ms Ritchie emphasised her point that she believes change must come to the RTA.

“We are living in a modern world and it is time for the RTA to change,” she said. “People have been pressed all the way… there is an attitude of people that ‘oh you can’t change the RTA’ but there is a change in the air.

“The power of the people is going to make a change,” she said.